I picked-up this unfired 20" octagon barreled Winchester M1894 Buffalo Bill Commemorative in .30-30 today. I've about $240.00 in it counting three boxes of cartridges.

The good thing is I can shoot this one because it took some water damage to the butt-stock and the simulated blue plating (sorta like a Henry) has chipped away in places. It's only real value is as a shooter. LOL...Fancy woods gun.

I have a nice M94 side mount so I'm going to stick that and a 60s era Lyman 4X scope on it and hunt with it. I might also replace the stamped lifter with a milled one and a large ring lever that my LGS has.

Low 4-digit serial so this one was made in the first run in 1968. They made a boat load of them in 20" and 26" versions. 112K total.

Good Deal.
I'd have bought it.

Nice! I have that same gun, never been fired and still has the tag hanging on it. Would love to shoot it but figured I might as well leave it unfired. Also have two other ones(unfired) but can't remember exactly what they are, I "think" one is a John Wayne.

I had one and sold it. There was some noise that the commemoratives were of lower quality than the standard guns. I never fired mine. With a rifle length and the octagonal barrel it was heavy as hell.

For a while I helped out my friend in his shop.

Hate to tell you the number of times somebody would bring in uncle Harry's Winchester Comm and think they had hit the lottery then get all upset when we showed them the blue book

I live in CT where the Winchesters hold a bit higher value than most anywhere else but Winchester cranked them out and most are really worth very little more than the standard Winchester and then only unfired with the box and paperwork.

There are a couple low production ones and some high interest models (everybody wants a John Wayne ) that are worth something but any damage or wear from shooting and you might as well go hunting.

I have several 94s from different eras but the one I shoot the most is a cheap model that was built in the mid 1970s . plain wood (birch?) stamped lifter and some crap that looks like black paint on the receiver.

Looks pretty crappy but it has a decent trigger and is very accurate . I have done well in a couple of cowboy rifle long range side matches shooting a cast 190 bullet.

My point is as long as nobody has messed with the stamped lifter and it is working ok I would leave it alone and just shoot it. Scopes on lever guns can be tricky because of the straight stock. If you go the route keep it lower power and mounted as low as possible.
I am a fan of the Lyman aperture (peep sight).

The 94s used to be everywhere in good usable shape for $150-$190 but those days are long gone , working guns are rarely seen for less than $350 (seems crazy?) , the OP did well

Some of the 94s with the heavy barrels seem big and clunky (they are ) but when shooting offhand that extra weight is your friend .
The light carbines feel handy but at any kind of distance unsupported they are bobbing and weaving like nobody's business

Winchester closing did that.Everyone thought Every Winchester was investment quality.

In the 6 months after Winchester closed my wife's cousin bought every new Winchester he could find. All current production, box stock guns. All basic models but one-a legacy model in (IIRC) .38-55. When his grandkids are his age they MIGHT be worth good money if left in the boxes and unfucked-with, but he went about it wrong to make money buying Winchesters. LGS prices in mid-panic. I think his cheapest one was $600.

He already lost his ass on two of them. He wanted a car so he traded two Winchesters-for a Geo Tracker.

OP, OTOH, did very well. I'd give $400 for that rifle because I want a .30-30. The condition is nice enough to keep it off the ugly rolls, worn enough I would be willing to use it.  Sub $300 with ammo? Hell of a price.

I don't know if it's paint or some kind of black plating like the Hernys have. It does not seem very durable. It's a steel receiver so I don't really know what they gained by plating it. Around one of the screws where it has flaked it looks like a copper base under it.

Says 7.8 pounds.

You'll shoot your eye out!

Oh, wait, wrong gun...

My dad had a Teddy Roosevelt commemorative from around that era . I sold it for my mom about 4 years ago for $500.

Unfired inthe box.It was a huge piece of shit,  quality wise.

Meh, other than the plating it seems to be of the same quality of any other '94 of that era. Feeds/ejects just fine. Pretty decent pre-lawyer trigger.

Around here you seldom see a M-94 (in any age/condition) go for much under $400.00. It's been that way for some time.

Nice buy.

Yeah , I know its not really paint . Mine would have been one of the cheap guns cranked out for the chain stores.
I am thinking the difference was the blued guns had to be finely hand polished before blueing but the black stuff was just slapped on and maybe baked to cure

I went ahead and installed the side-mount along with a Lyman All-American 4 X 32 scope. Worked out very well. Being just slightly above the plane of the irons it still has a good cheek weld. I've been wanting to put the Lyman back in service. The medium plain crosshairs are perfect for a woods gun.

I had a couple 2.5X scopes but they were only 1.5" shorter than the Lyman. Meh, I prefer 4X anyway.

Of course I had to do the "side-mount shuffle" and turn the scope so that the windage is now the elevation. If you don't turn them the ejected empty will strike the turret hump/cap.

I always wondered if they made a scope that was flush on the right side. I've never seen one but then again I've never looked.

good score.
a buddy hunted deer with those back in the 80's. It was a good gun.

I am a fan of those older Lyman scopes.

They are  usually quite clear and brite and the low (compared to what most folks use these days) power is very useful for most lever gun use

I had one that went with a Savage 99 I sold off when I was hard up  for money . Had to do it at the time but that rifle and that scope went well together.

The Lyman I had just had the single post as a reticule , very fast and worked well for my eyes even in less than perfect light.

Still a fan of the Lyman peep on the 94s (stubborn old man)

Nice find!  And in a nice length.  

My brother has a USBP commemorative which is in the trapper length--kicks like a mule.

The more I messed with it the less I liked the scope set-up. I'll find another use for the All-American. It's a fine scope.

I went to my LGS today and found a Williams receiver sight for it and installed it.

I would have much preferred a Lyman 66 because they are steel but at least it's a older Williams with flush click adjustments.....Plus it was only $15.00 bucks. The Lyman sight are running around $100.00 for a half-way decent example. I've used the older Williams receiver sights on other rifles and never had a issue.

I had a flat-top Marbles dove-tail filler for a octagon barrel so I removed the buckhorn sight and put the filler in. Much cleaner looking now.





 

I personally like Lyman 21 sights on Winchesters.



Need a leather saddle scabbard for that rifle

My kingdom for a horse.

Way too much going on with a L-21 sight. Add to that a original is like $400.00.

Repros can be had for around $150.00.

That is cool.  I like lever guns.

Just need to meet a nice horse chick